NOVEL DIET ENCAPSULATION / PACKAGING METHODS

Pat Greany, Ara Manukian, Bill Toreki & Rudy Strohschein

Analytical Research Systems, Inc., Gainesville, FL

Ara Manukian

Bill Toreki

Rudy Strohschein

• Presentation of artificial diets for insects, including parasitoids and predators, must be made in a form that meets the behavioral requirements of these organisms.

• Practical considerations require that the presentation approach also is cost-effective, allowing rapid and convenient encapsulation / packaging of the diet.

• Exposure of the diet to desiccation and deleterious microorganisms must be minimized.

• Diet handling also should be convenient for introduction into the insects’ environment & removal thereafter.

Diet Packaging / Encapsulation Requirements

We have developed two systems to encapsulate orpackage insect diets to meet these objectives: _____________________________________________

•A simple system for stretching, forming, filling and sealing Parafilm or other elastic films

•A novel method for production of Hydrocapsules ® , individual, polymer-encapsulated diet ‘pills’ that can be filled with a wide array of aqueous solutions, suspensions or diets.

Hydrocapsules offer a completely new way to deliver food and water (or control agents) to insects and they allow unparalleled opportunities for incorporation of kairomones and phagostimulants to increase discovery, recognition and acceptance of these capsules.

Part 1

Traditional film-based encapsulation system• Parafilm• Seal-View• Dura-Seal

24 Well Plate with Vacuum Control Regulator

40 Well Plate

APPARATUS FOR FORMING WELLS

• PLATES WITH ALMOST ANY NUMBER, SIZE, SHAPE OF WELLS CAN BE PRODUCED

• ALL WELLS ARE FORMED SIMULTANEOUSLY AND RAPIDLY

• FILM CAN BE PRE-STRETCHED PRIOR TO APPLICATION AND THEN STRETCHED AGAIN BY VACUUM TO MINIMAL THICKNESS

• ‘POPPING’ IS AVOIDED BY CONTROL OF NEGATIVE PRESSURE AND ASSURED STOPPING POINT AT POROUS PLATE AT BOTTOM OF WELL

Geocoris punctipesPodisus maculiventris

Diapetimorpha introita larvae Adult w/ fall armyworm pupa

Part 2_______________

Hydrocapsule ® Encapsulation

Technology Development

(Supported by USDA SBIR Program Grant)

The term “HYDROCAPSULE®”, is a U.S. Registered Trademark (Reg. No. 2,468,415), solely owned by ARS, Inc. It is defined as a discrete capsule(s) or microcapsule(s), of any size, shape, composition and color, which has a polymeric outer coating (shell or membrane) that surrounds any inner liquid mixture having 10% to 100% water content. The capsules are typically round, but can be any shape, and range in size from 100 microns to 2 centimeters in diameter, and are typically between 2 to 3 millimeters.    The methods, materials, chemical processes and machine hardware used to produce HYDROCAPSULES® are U.S. Patented (Ser. No. 09/780,046) and International Patent-pending (PCT Chapters 1 & 2 filed) and are solely owned by ARS.  

Coleomegilla maculata

Photo by Dr. Jim White, Entomos Inc.

Podisus maculiventris nymph feeding on

Hydrocapsule contents

Photos by Dr. Jeff Shapiro, USDA ARS

Orius insidiosus nymph on “water pill”

Hydrocapsules Also Can Be Used as a Delivery System For:

•Biopesticides & Conventional Toxicants

•Pathogens

•Entomopathogenic nematodes

Other Advantages of Hydrocapsules:

•They can be used for aqueous or lipophilic contents (or emulsions of the two)

•They can be easily frozen or sterilized using irradiation (terminal sterilization)

•Attractants and phagostimulants can be incorporated internally and/or externally due to polymeric encapsulant

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Steinernema sp.